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Credit: Artem Kovalev on Unsplash
via YES! Magazine.

In January 2018 the
red carpet of the Golden Globe Awards was not the usual sea of dazzling gowns
and blinding jewelry. Instead, a shadow of black engulfed the night. Actresses
alongside activists wore black as a proclamation of solidarity with sexual
assault survivors within the entertainment industry and workplaces across the
country.

Connected to the
“blackout” was Time’s Up, a movement aimed at ending sexual
violence and inequality in the workplace. The initiative aims to bridge the gap
between Hollywood players and those who experience sexual assault from less
privileged backgrounds.

“Time’s Up is a unified call for change from
women in entertainment for women everywhere,” states its website. “From movie
sets to farm fields to boardrooms alike, we envision nationwide leadership that
reflects the world in which we live.”

With about 19 million
viewers watching, the awards ceremony offered perhaps the largest platform to
address sexual violence since the #MeToo movement began on social media. But
recognizing this crisis is only half the battle, because for many the aftermath
of sexual assault is just the beginning of a lifetime of healing.

In November, an online
campaign inspired by the #MeToo movement launched in the hopes of encouraging
sexual assault survivors to seek the resources necessary for recovery. Suitably
named#HealMeToo,
the campaign was created by Meghan Patenaude with the National Organization of
Women, New York chapter, and is bringing the issue of trauma caused by sexual
assault to the general public. Since a video created by
the #HealMeToo campaign went live on the Huffington Post in
November, it has been viewed about half a million times.

Patenaude, who is a
survivor herself, describes the importance of bringing attention to these
traumas. “It just seemed like there was really something missing, and we wanted
to be able to connect with people and share the aftermath,” she explains. “It
doesn’t just end with the story. Everyone who just posted to #MeToo is also
suffering, most likely, from PTSD, and that’s kind of the story that we have
never really heard before.”

Within two weeks
following sexual assault, 94 percent of women will also experience
post-traumatic stress disorder, reported the Journal of Traumatic Stress in
1992. PTSD is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying
event—either experiencing it or witnessing it—and includes a variety of
symptoms, varying from flashbacks and nightmares to severe anxiety and
uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

PTSD can affect an
individual’s ability to work, to have close and meaningful relationships, and
can trigger addictions and unhealthy behaviors. The U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs found in a study that women aretwice as likely as men to develop PTSD.
Those who experience this condition due to sexual assault often find they need
to avoid certain social situations and people likely to trigger a negative
response. Going to the park, grabbing a beer with friends at the bar, walking
down a dark street—these simple tasks can heighten fear and anxiety for those
suffering from PTSD.

Survivor Colleen Kane,
a 23-year-old living in New York City, says that sharing her experiences with
the #HealMeToo campaign has helped her handle intense emotions that arise after
being sexually assaulted. “It can be very overwhelming, and in the first few
months I felt completely isolated and I didn’t feel my close friends really
understood what I was going through.”

Kane’s experience is
familiar to those who have been through similar trauma. It is this sentiment of
isolation and separation that is what the #HealMeToo campaign is hoping to
negate.

Patenaude wanted to
bring attention to PTSD among survivors, and found that linking to the #MeToo
movement would be the best way. The campaign has been featured on Refinery29,
Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and Ebony Magazine.

“This project came out
of just really wanting to help women fight PTSD and being able to create the
first sense of community around it,” she says. “I think this campaign plays an
important part in getting the public to realize the aftermath of sexual assault
and, further, how to heal.” Women have participated through Twitter, Facebook,
and the campaign’s online message board, and the campaign has offered them an
umbrella under which they can safely discuss triggering topics so often kept
from public view.

The website offers
survivors a variety of tools, including a website, message board, videos, and
social media threads, which all focus on survivors’ personal accounts of
working past PTSD. The website also links to organizations that specialize in
helping victims after an assault has occurred (After Silence, RAINN, Anxiety
and Depression Association of America, and the PTSD Alliance, to name a
few). Health organizations like Mount Sinai Health System and Teen Source have
referred their patients to the #HealMeToo website as a resource.

Since the start of the
campaign in November, a guidebook was created to combine the stories of 40
survivors. The guidebook is available online atwww.healmetoo.com and
contains words of encouragement and advice about how to start recovering from
PTSD after being sexually assaulted.

“There’s nothing more
powerful than advice from survivor to survivor,” Patenaude says. “The campaign
[does] not just spread stories, it spreads advice from people who have been
there, from people who are going through it, and who are still fighting through
it.”